^Introduction}!)**This first Englis

^Introduction}!)**
This first English translation of The Picatrix, or Ghayat Al-
Hakim as it is titled in classical Arabic, represents a major
contribution the corpus of Hermetic literature. The Warburg
Institute, which published excellent scholarly editions in Arabic,
German and Latin, decided not to do an English translation with
the idea that only Medievalists would be interested in reading it,
along with the prohibitive cost of a new translation. However,
the continued increase in popularity of Hermetic studies as well
as the growing number of English readers desiring to refer to this
book, has made the publication of this English edition necessary.
Long regarded as source material the text of this Medieval
work consists of four books covering the art and practice of
Astrological, Talismanic and Astral Magic. The author has
compiled information derived from 224 books by "ancient sages"
with the intention of uniting all these diverse arts into a practical
system. Although attributed to Pseudo-al-Majriti the question of
exact authorship remains unanswered. The style in which the
author of the Picatrix presents information resembles that of the
Ikhwan al-Safa whose encyclopaedia, the Rasa'il, influenced
Hermetic philosophy during the 10th and 11th centuries. Known
as the Brethren of Purity, the Ikhwan al-Safa drew their
p h i l o s o p h y from m a n y d i v e r s e s o u r c e s ; A r i s t o t l e ,
xv
Plato, Pythagoras, the Greeks, Persians, Indians and the Arabs
[among whom perhaps Jabir Ibn Hayyam was the most
famous]. There are even passages within the Picatrix taken
directly from the Rasa'il, implying that the author shared some
of the views expounded by the Ikhwan. Clearly, this sort of
synthesizing reflects the tendencies of later Hermetic
philosophers who were trying to unify all spiritual and
philosophic traditions. It is unfortunate if not surprising that
there is little information available in English about the Ikhwan
al-Safa.
The Picatrix, like the writings of Jabir, could be an important
connection between Hermetic philosophy in the West and the
esoteric traditions of the Middle East. Its importance was first
recognized by Alphonso the Wise in the thirteenth century, who
had it translated into Spanish. Why Alphonso thought the
Picatrix was worthy of his attention remains a mystery at least
to the present editor. Nonetheless we have him to thank for the
transmission of this work to the West and, while the
significance of this document as compared to the Rasa'il is
slight, it remains an important link in the history of
Hermeticism. Brought out of the obscurity of the Middle East it
passed through the hands of such prominent figures as Marsilio
Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Peter of Abano and Henry
Cornileus Agrippa. A Latin translation made its impression on
the Bard Rabelais and the Venetian Inquisition cites it as a cause
for the arrest of Casanova. With such colorful figures
surrounding the Picatrix, it is no wonder that scholars such as
Lynn Thorndike and Francis Yates would dedicate many pages
to it. Citing Henry Corbin, Christopher Mcintosh suggests that
it may even have influenced Johann Valentin Andrea when he
wrote the Fama Fraternataties.1 Here we read the words of
See his Rosicrucian Legacy in The Rosicrucian Enlightenment Revisited, 1999
Lindisfarne Books.
xvi
Aristotle, Plato, the Nabateans and among others, Hermes
himself. Various ideas are brought together and presented as a
whole system utilizing the symbolism of Arabic astrology and
alchemy. Consequently we see a complicated astrological
scheme united with talismanic magic and imbued with the
mysteries of those correspondences to attain mastery of the
Royal Art. Finally after 1000 years, the Picatrix is available for
the eyes of English readers.
-Editor
xvii
«$Prologue}§«*
I
N THE NAME OF ALLAH, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah Whose guidance broke the darkness of
ignorance; through His divine decree, miraculous events
are created, and unto Him all shall return. With His
decree, day and night became different. He creates things
from nothing. He creates all beings and assigns them their
allowances. He is the perfect original designer of every being;
He neither treats things nor abandons them. Attributes are not
sufficient to describe Him, and injustice is incompatible with
Him. Words cannot adequately describe Him, and events
cannot happen to Him. May Allah grant salvation to the Master
of Messengers and the Seal of all Prophets to whom the Book
(the Qur'an) was revealed in the unequivocal Arabic language.
May Allah also grant His last Prophet, who has been recorded
in the ancient Psalms, and His pure and righteous family
salvation. May peace be upon him until the day of judgment.
For those who are inspired to delve into the science of
philosophers in order to look for their secrets and search for
their miracles, I would like to say that my motive in writing this
book, which I titled The Goal of The Wise, is what I came across
when I wrote the previous book titled The Rank of The Wise. I
started writing this book in the year 343 when I finished editing
The Rank of The Wise, and I completed it in 348. I was
-*{Picatrix}>
encouraged to write this book by the widespread interest by our
generation in the book in which I talked about talismans and the
art of different types of magic although they were not aware of
what they were looking for or what approach they should
follow. They desperately tried to find what has been made off
limits for them by the philosophers who prevented them from
discovering it and intentionally concealed it, made it vague and
veiled it by indecipherable symbols because of the destruction it
entails for the world. However, Allah, Who protects His World,
forbids that from taking place. For that purpose they erected
temples and sculptured pictures on them as signs to knowledge
seekers and clues to researchers. They left many books replete
with symbols, secrets and an indecipherable scripts that can
only be understood by philosophers like themselves.
Accordingly, I sought to make it known and explain to the
people the darkened path which leads to this divine conclusion
and to point out what philosophers have concealed concerning
this magical outcome as I endeavored to do in developing this
result. I have divided this work into four books as I did in The
Rank, and every book is divided into several chapters:
The First Book consists of seven chapters because the fast
planets are seven. The first chapter deals with the Virtue of
Wisdom. I discuss in the first book the astrological ratios and
the pattern of these ratios in making talismans and how planets
cast their light on other orbiting planets. Additionally, I present
in the first book the vague meanings which have been withheld
and concealed by philosophers.
The Second Book deals with the astrological pictures and
their functions, and it explains the secrets which philosophers
have concealed about these functions. This book also deals with
the patterns of borrowing magic in the world of formation and
dissolution as called by the philosophers of the elite. Moreover,
it explains why Plato calls for finding these pictures.
-^Ghayat Al-Hakim}»-
The Third Book is about the fortunes of the planets from the
three generative origins, and it explains that there is nothing left
in the world of formation and dissolution that agrees with such
functions; reactions are impossible because of their fluidity and
susceptibility to interaction, and consequently, nothing remains.
I also mention their tempers in dealing with one another to
attain the required magical function through the effect of the
original or natural heat or both either by means of emanating
incense or by whatever cooked food or drink that can get into
the stomach.
The Fourth Book talks about the magic of the Kurds, the
Nabateans, and the Abyssinians and examples of the magical
tricks which are considered the best type of magic. I complete
this purpose without withholding or concealing anything. I
beseech Allah's assistance to help me complete this endeavor.
He is my supporter, and with His support I hereby begin, Allah
willing.
Book I
-^Chapter One}§*
I
WOULD LIKE TO ADVISE YOU, my brother, may Allah
enlighten your mind, that wisdom is one of the most
virtuous talents and one of the most preferred gains.
Wisdom is the knowledge of sublime reasons for which
beings exist, and the obvious reasons for things which have
reasons for their existence. You must be certain of their
existence and what and how they are. Although they are many,
they ascend in order to the One Being, who caused other beings
to be, whether they are far away or near by.
That One is first in reality and His Being does not stem from
any other being. He is self-sufficient and thus, His Being does
not gain from any other being; by no means does His Being
benefit from any other being.
Fundamentally, He cannot be a body or in a body. His Being
is different from all other beings and, in actuality, there is
nothing in common, except the name only, although not in the
concept of the name.
He can only be One; He is One in reality, and He is the One
Who gave all other beings their identities by which we learn to
identify them. He is the original Truth who assigns to others
their truth. His truth is self-sufficient and consequendy, He does
not gain from the truth of others.
^Picatrix^-
It is unimaginable to think that there is more perfection than
His: not to mention that it does not exist, a more complete truth
than His, or more complete Oneness than His. He is All-
knowing of how other beings derived their essence, their
realities, and their identities from Him. He is also All-knowing
of how cause-and-effect gains its characteristics.
He is all-knowing of the ranks of all beings: some are first,
some are middle, and some are last. The last have causes, but
they are not causes per se for things below them. Similarly, the
middle beings

Results (French) 1:

^ Introduction}!) **Cette première traduction en anglais de The Picatrix ou Ghâyat Al-Hakim comme il est intitulé en arabe classique, représente un importantcontribution au corpus de la littérature hermétique. La WarburgInstitut, publiées par les éditions savantes excellentes en arabe,Allemand et Latin, décidé de ne pas faire une traduction en anglais avecl'idée que seul médiévistes seraient intéressés par la lecture,avec le coût prohibitif d'une nouvelle traduction. Toutefois,l'augmentation continue de la popularité des études hermétiques ainsicomme le nombre croissant de lecteurs anglais désireux de se référer à celivre, a effectué la publication de cette édition anglaise nécessaire.Longtemps considéré comme source de matériel le texte de ce Medievaltravail se compose de quatre livres portant sur l'art et la pratique deMagie astrologique, talismanique et Astral. L'auteur al'information compilée provenant de 224 livres par « anciens sages »avec l'intention de s'unir tous ces arts divers dans une pratiquesystème. Bien qu'attribué au Pseudo-al-Majriti la question depaternité exacte reste sans réponse. Le style dans lequel laauteur du Picatrix présente information ressemble à celle de laIkhwan al-Safa dont Encyclopédie, le Rasa'il, influencéPhilosophie hermétique pendant les 10èmes et 11èmes siècles. Connucomme les frères de la pureté, le Ikhwan al-Safa a attiré leurp h i l o s o p h y de m a n y, d i v e r s e s o u c e s ; A r i s t o t e lXVPlaton, Pythagore, les Grecs, Perses, Indiens et arabes[parmi lesquels Jabir Ibn Hayyam était peut-être le pluscélèbre]. Il y a des passages même dans le Picatrix prisesdirectement à partir de la Rasa'il, ce qui implique que l'auteur a partagé certainesles vues exposées par le Ikhwan. De toute évidence, ce genre desynthèse reflète les tendances des plus tard hermétiqueles philosophes qui ont essayé d'unifier tous les spirituels ettraditions philosophiques. Il est regrettable que ne pas surprenant queIl y a peu d'information disponible en anglais sur l'IkhwanAl-Safa.Le Picatrix, comme les écrits de Jabir, pourrait être un importantlien entre la philosophie hermétique, à l'Ouest et letraditions ésotériques du Moyen-Orient. Son importance a étéreconnu par Alphonse le sage au XIIIe siècle, quis'il traduit en espagnol. Pourquoi Alphonso pensé lePicatrix était digne de ses restes attention un mystère au moinsà l'éditeur actuel. Néanmoins, nous devons lui remercier pour latransmission de ce travail, à l'Ouest et, tout en lesignification de ce document par rapport à la Rasa'il estlégère, elle demeure un maillon important dans l'histoire deHermétisme. Sorti de l'obscurité du Moyen-Orient ilpasse par les mains de ces personnalités comme MarsilioFicin, Pico della Mirandola, Peter d'Abano et HenryCornileus Agrippa. Une traduction latine fait son impression surle barde de Rabelais et l'Inquisition vénitienne la cite comme une causel'arrestation de Casanova. Avec des personnages colorésentourant le Picatrix, il n'est pas étonnant que les chercheurs tels queLynn Thorndike et Francis Yates consacrerait beaucoup de pagesà elle. Citant Henry Corbin, Christopher Mcintosh suggère queIl peut même avoir influencé Johann Valentin Andrea lorsqu'ila écrit le Fama Fraternataties.1 ici que nous lisons les paroles deVoir son héritage rosicrucien dans The Rosicrucian lumières Revisited, 1999Livres de Lindisfarne.XVIAristote, Platon, les Nabatéens et entre autres, Hermeslui-même. Plusieurs idées sont réunies et présentées comme untout le système utilisant le symbolisme de l'astrologie arabe etalchimie. Par conséquent, nous voyons un compliqué astrologiqueunie avec la magie talismanique et imprégnée de lamystères de ces correspondances d'atteindre la maîtrise de laArt Royal. Enfin après 1000 ans, le Picatrix est disponible pouraux yeux des lecteurs anglais.-Rédacteur en chefXVII« § $Prologue} « *J'aiN le nom d'ALLAH, le Tout Miséricordieux, le très Miséricordieux.Louange à Allah qui a brisé l'obscurité deignorance ; par son décret divin, événements miraculeuxsont créés, et lui tous reviendront. Avec sonDécret, de jour et de nuit est devenu différents. Il crée des chosespartir de rien. Il crée tous les êtres et les orientent leursallocations. Il est le concepteur original parfait de tout être ;Il traite les choses ni les abandonne. Les attributs ne sont passuffisante pour décrire lui et l'injustice n'est pas compatible avecLui. Mots ne peuvent décrire adéquatement lui et événementsLui ne peut pas arriver. Peut-être Allah accorde le salut au maîtredes messagers et le sceau de tous les prophètes, à qui le livre(le Coran) a été révélé en langue arabe sans équivoque.Allah peut également accorder son dernier prophète, qui a été enregistrédans les Psaumes antiques et sa famille pure et vertueuseSalut. Que la paix soit sur lui jusqu'au jour du jugement.Pour ceux qui sont inspirés de se plonger dans la science dephilosophes pour chercher leurs secrets et Rechercherleurs miracles, je tiens à dire que mon motif dans la rédaction du présentlivre, que j'ai intitulé le but du sage, est ce que je suis tombé surQuand j'ai écrit le livre précédent intitulé le rang du sage. J'aicommencé à écrire ce livre en l'an 343 lorsque j'ai terminé l'éditionLe grade du sage, et j'ai terminé en 348. J'étais-* {Picatrix} >encouragé à écrire ce livre par l'intérêt généralisé de notregénération dans le livre dans lequel j'ai parlé de talismans et laart de différents types de magie bien qu'ils n'étaient pas au courant deQuelle approche ou ce qu'ils cherchaient, ils devraientSuivez. Ils ont essayé désespérément de trouver ce qui a été mislimites pour eux par les philosophes qui les ont empêchés dedécouvrir et délibérément cachée, rendu vague etvoilé par indéchiffrables symboles en raison de la destruction, ilimplique pour le monde. Cependant, Allah, qui protège son monde,forbids that from taking place. For that purpose they erectedtemples and sculptured pictures on them as signs to knowledgeseekers and clues to researchers. They left many books repletewith symbols, secrets and an indecipherable scripts that canonly be understood by philosophers like themselves.Accordingly, I sought to make it known and explain to thepeople the darkened path which leads to this divine conclusionand to point out what philosophers have concealed concerningthis magical outcome as I endeavored to do in developing thisresult. I have divided this work into four books as I did in TheRank, and every book is divided into several chapters:The First Book consists of seven chapters because the fastplanets are seven. The first chapter deals with the Virtue ofWisdom. I discuss in the first book the astrological ratios andthe pattern of these ratios in making talismans and how planetscast their light on other orbiting planets. Additionally, I presentin the first book the vague meanings which have been withheldand concealed by philosophers.The Second Book deals with the astrological pictures andtheir functions, and it explains the secrets which philosophershave concealed about these functions. This book also deals withthe patterns of borrowing magic in the world of formation anddissolution as called by the philosophers of the elite. Moreover,it explains why Plato calls for finding these pictures.-^Ghayat Al-Hakim}»-The Third Book is about the fortunes of the planets from thethree generative origins, and it explains that there is nothing leftin the world of formation and dissolution that agrees with suchfunctions; reactions are impossible because of their fluidity andsusceptibility to interaction, and consequently, nothing remains.I also mention their tempers in dealing with one another toattain the required magical function through the effect of theoriginal or natural heat or both either by means of emanatingincense or by whatever cooked food or drink that can get intothe stomach.The Fourth Book talks about the magic of the Kurds, theNabateans, and the Abyssinians and examples of the magicaltricks which are considered the best type of magic. I completethis purpose without withholding or concealing anything. Ibeseech Allah's assistance to help me complete this endeavor.He is my supporter, and with His support I hereby begin, Allahwilling.Book I-^Chapter One}§*IWOULD LIKE TO ADVISE YOU, my brother, may Allahenlighten your mind, that wisdom is one of the mostvirtuous talents and one of the most preferred gains.Wisdom is the knowledge of sublime reasons for whichbeings exist, and the obvious reasons for things which havereasons for their existence. You must be certain of theirexistence and what and how they are. Although they are many,they ascend in order to the One Being, who caused other beingsto be, whether they are far away or near by.That One is first in reality and His Being does not stem fromany other being. He is self-sufficient and thus, His Being doesnot gain from any other being; by no means does His Beingbenefit from any other being.Fundamentally, He cannot be a body or in a body. His Beingis different from all other beings and, in actuality, there isnothing in common, except the name only, although not in theconcept of the name.He can only be One; He is One in reality, and He is the OneWho gave all other beings their identities by which we learn toidentify them. He is the original Truth who assigns to otherstheir truth. His truth is self-sufficient and consequendy, He doesnot gain from the truth of others.^Picatrix^-It is unimaginable to think that there is more perfection thanHis: not to mention that it does not exist, a more complete truththan His, or more complete Oneness than His. He is All-knowing of how other beings derived their essence, theirrealities, and their identities from Him. He is also All-knowingof how cause-and-effect gains its characteristics.He is all-knowing of the ranks of all beings: some are first,some are middle, and some are last. The last have causes, butthey are not causes per se for things below them. Similarly, themiddle beings

Results (French) 3:

introduction}.)* * * cette première traduction en anglais de la picatrix, ou ghayat al - hakim qui s'intitule en arabe classique, représente une importante contribution au corpus de la littérature et hermétique.le warburg
institute, qui a publié d'excellents éditions savantes en arabe,
allemand et latin, a décidé de ne pas faire une traduction anglaise avec
l'idée que seule medievalists seraient intéressés à lire,
avec le coût prohibitif de la nouvelle traduction.toutefois, "l'augmentation continue de la popularité des études hermétique et
comme le nombre croissant de lecteurs anglais désireux de se référer à ce
livre, a fait de la publication de la présente édition anglaise nécessaire.
longtemps considéré comme source le texte de cette chanson de
travail se compose de quatre livres sur l'art et la pratique de
astrologique et astral, talismanic magic.l'auteur a
renseignements compilés tirés de 224 livres par "les anciens sages"
avec l'intention d'unir tous ces divers arts en une pratique
).bien que attribuée à la question des pseudo - al majriti paternité demeure sans réponse. exact.le style dans lequel le
auteur de la picatrix présente l'information ressemble à celle de la
ikhwan al safa dont l'encyclopédie, la rasa'il, influencé
hermétiques philosophie lors de la 10e et 11e siècle.les frères de pureté connue
comme le ikhwan al safa a appelé leur
p h i l o s o p h o m a n o d i v e r s e s o u r c e s; r i s t o t l e
xv
platon, pythagore, les grecs, les perses, les indiens et les arabes.